“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.“

View our Articles

Jefferson Davis, Feb. 10, 1861

On this day in 1861, a telegram arrived at Brierfield, Jefferson Davis’ Mississippi plantation, informing him that on the previous day, breakaway delegates meeting in Montgomery, Ala., had chosen him…

Allegheny Arsenal Explosion of 1862

In the early afternoon on September 17, 1862, just about 200 miles from where the Battle of Antietam was taking place, another Civil War-era tragedy occurs: Three explosions rip through…

Battlefield Preservation

Save Tennessee Battlefields

Your help is needed to save two key tracts at Lookout Mountain and Franklin.
The first tract includes 301 acres that played an important role in the “Battle Above the Clouds” at Lookout Mountain. The second tract is a small but crucial parcel at the Franklin Battlefield, which adds a key piece of ground to the land the Trust already worked so hard to reclaim and restore. 

303
ACRES TARGETED

Visit the Trust
The Trent Affair

The Trent Affair

In accordance with the authority conferred by this Congress, the Confederate President appointed John Slidell and James M. Mason diplomatic agents in October 1861, with the power to enter into conventions for treaties with England and France. They were commissioned to secure from these European powers recognition of the Confederate…

Confederate Generals (A-D)

Confederate Generals (A-D)

Confederate Generals (A-D)

Alexander W. Campbell

Alexander W. Campbell

Alexander William Campbell (June 4, 1828 – June 13, 1893), was a Confederate States Army Brigadier General during the American Civil War. He was a lawyer in Tennessee before and after the war, mayor of Jackson, Tennessee, 1856, and an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for governor of Tennessee in 1880.…

Old Capital Prison

Old Capital Prison

In November 1861, Secretary of State William H. Seward told Lord Richard Lyons, British Ambassador to the United States, “My Lord, I can touch a bell on my right hand, and order the arrest of a citizen of Ohio; I can touch the bell again, and order the imprisonment of…

FEATURE 1
DOCUMENTS

READ what those who lived through America’s past said about their challenges and choices

VIEW DOCUMENTS
FEATURE 2
LIBRARY

EXPLORE biographies, battles, and events throughout America’s historical past

EXPLORE
FEATURE 3
RESOURCES

DISCOVER historical exhibits, sources for research, images of American history

FIND RESOURCES

Battle of New Market Heights

As the morning sun burned through the fog along the New Market Road about eight miles southeast of Richmond on the autumn morning of September 29, 1864, it revealed a…

The Battle of Kernstown

Fought on March 23, 1862, the First Battle of Kernstown was the initial engagement of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. The conflict was also Stonewall Jackson’s only defeat as…

The Battle Of Mill Springs

The Battle Of Mill Springs

Although Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer’s main responsibility was to guard Cumberland Gap, in November 1861 he advanced west into Kentucky to strengthen control in the area around Somerset. He found a strong defensive position at Mill Springs and decided to make it his winter quarters. He fortified the area,…

Battle of Island Number Ten

Battle of Island Number Ten

The Battle of Island Number Ten was an engagement at the New Madrid or Kentucky Bend on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, lasting from February 28 to April 8, 1862.

Battle of Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee, was part of the Union Army’s futile frontal attacks on December 13 against entrenched…

Battle of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Shiloh also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6 – 7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee.

Database of Battles

From Native Indians, The American Revolution,
and American Civil War

The Battle of Camden

The Battle of Camden was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Lord…

The Battle of Trenton

As soon as Fort Lee was abandoned, Washington began to withdraw his army across New Jersey toward Philadelphia. About 5,000 Americans left Hackensack on November 21, 1776, and retired without…

The Battle of Bennington

The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles (16 km) from its…

American Society in Revolt

American Society in Revolt

Training the Continental Army As the colonies prepared themselves for war, new militias were formed throughout America, primarily to defend local communities from British aggression. Other units, however, rushed to join their comrades in Boston as soon as every man had a musket. Under the strict command of George Washington, Nathanael Greene,…

The French and Indian War

The French and Indian War

Unlike the previous wars between European powers in the 1700s, the French And Indian War was begun in North America—in the heartland of the Ohio Valley, where both France and Britain held claims to land and trading rights.

The Revolutionary War

The Revolutionary War

When war erupted in 1775, it seemed clear that Britain would win. It had a large, well-organized land army, and the Royal Navy was unmatched on the sea. Many of the British troops in the Revolutionary War were veterans who had fought in the French and Indian War.

The Revolution Begins

The Revolution Begins

In 1772, Samuel Adams of Boston created the first Committee Of Correspondence, which was primarily an exchange of ideas in letters and pamphlets among members. Within a few years, this one committee led to dozens of similar discussion groups in towns throughout the colonies.